A driver was jailed for 30 months for causing a horrific four-vehicle crash after inhaling laughing gas.
Three teenage passengers were badly hurt when Mohammed Ahmed lost control of his powerful Mercedes C200 at a roundabout, Hamilton Sheriff Court was told on Friday, May 1.
Kevin Morrow, prosecuting, said the accused had inhaled 25 to 30 balloons filled with nitrous oxide.
Sheriff John Hamilton KC said Ahmed was guilty of an act of “staggering folly”.
He and three female passengers had to be cut from the wreckage after the crash, which involved two other cars and a bus.
Ahmed, 21, of Inchmurrin Drive, Rutherglen, admitted causing serious injury by driving dangerously.
The crash happened on the A725 near Birniehill roundabout in East Kilbride on August 16, 2023.
Ahmed was days short of his 19th birthday at the time.
Mr Morrow said Ahmed had picked up four pals in Glasgow and taken them for a drive before going to a fast food outlet.
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At one point, he took gas canisters and balloons from the boot and filled these, inhaling the gas as he drove and passing balloons to his passengers.
Mr Morrow said: “One passenger noted his speech became slurred, and it was as if he was moving in slow motion.
“At one point, Ahmed swerved onto the opposite side of the road, and the passenger asked him to slow down as she didn’t feel safe.”
However, around 10.30pm Ahmed “accelerated harshly” to 64 miles an hour in a 50mph area.
He failed to slow on the approach to a roundabout and hit the rear of another car, which caused further collisions involving a third car and a double-decker bus.
The Mercedes landed on top of one of the other cars.
A 17-year-old girl in Ahmed’s car suffered fractures to her spine and arm and has been left with deep vein thrombosis. She has been unable to work since the crash.
Another girl, also 17, had a skull fracture and a third, aged 18, suffered a broken jaw and damage to her spleen. She now has type 1 diabetes.
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All three have had long-term mental health issues as a result of the crash.
Ahmed sustained fractures to his arm, skull and nose.
An 18-year-old male passenger had minor injuries.
The occupants of the other cars and the bus escaped serious injury.
Defence lawyer James Arrol said Ahmed admitted being intoxicated by the nitrous oxide and remembered nothing about the crash.
Mr Arrol told the court: “His behaviour was exceptionally immature and irresponsible. He is remorseful and understands the decisions he made have had an impact on the lives of the victims.
“He acknowledges the consequences could have been much worse - there could have been fatalities.”
Sheriff Hamilton said first offender Ahmed had “deliberately disregarded the rules of the road” in a “prolonged and persistent course of dangerous driving”.
The sheriff added: “Custody is necessary to send a message that this kind of driving will not be tolerated.”
Ahmed was banned from driving for eight years and ordered to resit his test.
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